Larry Wood: No quick fixes, but Tutwiler should be the place that prison reform begins

Conditions at Tutwiler women's prison are disturbing to most, but there are no evident, easy solutions. The facility is archaic and overcrowded, and a pattern of mismanagement and abuse dates back for decades. Funding is limited and it is difficult to recruit qualified staff. Tutwiler represents a culture of abuse that will be difficult to turn around.

Federal courts might order changes, but it seems best that our state take responsibility for the problems and seek out creative, effective, and humane solutions. Gov. Robert Bentley has initiated several steps, but what is most needed is a reassessment of our approach to imprisonment, and to criminal justice broadly.

Transparency and openness are necessary in all phases of criminal justice. Historically, whenever people are given unmonitored power over the lives of other people, abuse is liable to occur. We need to know what occurs in prisons, and we need confidence that our efforts at correcting offenders are effective. Imprisonment has been the default answer, but in the long term, a very costly one. Criminals are taken out of society for a very long time. We presume that they will learn a good lesson from the experience, but usually they do not.

Just as the public has a right to know what is happening in prisons, we have a proactive responsibility to find out that information. The state is acting as our agent; all the abuses that have been occurring for years were conducted by our employees. What they have done, we have accepted.

So, what should we do about Tutwiler?

Apart from immediate measures to deal with issues of privacy and the prevention of sexual assault, a pressing goal is to decrease the prison population. Of course, releasing prisoners is not so simple. It will require comprehensive legislative and administrative changes as well as judicial actions. The Equal Justice Initiative, the civil rights agency that brought these problems to light, has suggested specific legal and administrative changes for Alabama.

We also will need a sound basis for deciding who to move to lower security or to release from prison. That will require a thorough assessment of the legal history and psychological status of the inmates. In order to design a more enlightened and effective prison system, we must know the security, training and mental health needs of the prison population.

Perhaps the federal government could help to provide financial or manpower resources for such a project. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has numerous well-trained administrators and mental health staff whose experience might be tapped. A great local resource for current research and theory in penology is the Criminal Justice and Psychology doctoral program at the University of Alabama.

Tutwiler also needs a restructuring of management and a long-term plan for facilities and programs, and that discussion also should begin immediately. In addition to the ideas of professionals and academics, input from prisoners, prisoners' families, and the general public should be sought out. Often, those with personal experience have creative ideas for improvement. Productive and cost-effective prison programs are also possible, and creative ideas can be assessed through science-based systematic program evaluation.

The situation at Tutwiler is a shame and an embarrassment, but it might also be a wake-up call. A quick fix is not possible, but we can reassess and change directions. Criminal justice reform is a significant problem at every level government. With reasoned discussion, perhaps we can make Tutwiler an example of how to do it right.

Dr. Larry Wood has a doctorate in clinical psychology with specialty in law and psychology from the University of Alabama and worked for 20 years as a supervisory psychologist with the federal Bureau of Prisons. He also worked at Tutwiler between May and June 2012.

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